Alpha and Beta
by The Wolf Who Walks Alone
Summary: When Max goes to save Ella in The Angel Experiment, and when she gets shot and meets Dr. Martinez, what if she wasn't alone? What if Fang had followed her? How it would have been different. Well, wonder no longer. Sounds boring, but trust me, it's not.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just a super short story, maybe one or two chapters long. It was an idea that I couldn't get out of my head. It takes place during 'The Angel Experiment'. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge Gazzy or Angel. Or anything else really. Oh well. I wish I did though… **

Max, Fang and Nudge flew in loose formation, thousands of feet above the Arizona landscape. Max looked absentmindedly at the ground, her vision focusing in on minute details on the ground below them. Her raptor vision zeroed in on a man riding a tractor in a field of wheat. He wore a flannel plaid shirt with worn, sun-bleached overalls, was thin and wore a straw hat. The stereotypical farmer.

Max thought about Gazzy and Iggy, who were back at the 'E' shaped house where she'd left them. She really didn't want them to get hurt. Iggy was blind, and that was a huge issue when it came to breaking into the School and stealing Angel out of there. There was going to be blood, Max knew that much. She didn't even know if they were going to come out alive, but she kept that suspicion to herself. It would only worry Nudge. It wouldn't bother Fang too much; or, at least he wouldn't show any sign that he was bothered.

Gazzy and Iggy probably hated her guts, but at least they were safe. She would never forgive herself if one of them were hurt or worse.

Fang had probably already figured that much out on his own. He sure wasn't the type to share his thoughts with them.

Nudge flew on, strangely quiet. She was probably thinking about her parents. Max could think of a thousand things that she'd rather do than tracking down Nudge's parents. As far as she was concerned, she was the mom to the whole Flock. She understood why Nudge wanted to see her parents, but there was just too much at stake here.

She would never tell Nudge this, but the chances that her parents didn't want her were far too high for her liking. Maybe they wanted their little girl that they had lost eleven years ago, their lost human baby. A lot had changed since then, like the fact that Nudge now had wings like the rest of the Flock.

Nudge's parents might turn her away, and that would crush Nudge. Max never wanted to see Nudge so heartbroken like that. The mere thought made her shudder with unwanted emotion.

Nudge's tawny brown wings, which were about eleven feet in total length, tilted downward as she swooped, probably out of sheer boredom.

Fang glided silently next to Max. His wings were a whopping fourteen feet in length, a foot longer than her own wingspan. His wings were pure midnight black that was reflecting an interesting shade of violet in the sunlight. His wings flapped almost silently, not unlike Fang himself.

Fang was her beta, her second in command, her-partner-in-crime and her best friend. He would take her place if she was captured or killed. Quiet as he was, she believed that he could do it. He was strong, he was tough, and he cared about the kids, whether they knew it or not. He just had a different way of showing it… okay, he didn't usually show it, emotion wise. But when they needed it, he was there for them, just like Max.

Max's own brown and white wings flapped, easily maneuvering in the wind current. Then, her vision zoomed in like a fancy digital camera lens. She saw a girl, maybe her age or a year younger. Three husky boys surrounded her. They looked threatening, and Max immediately knew that it wouldn't turn out well for the girl.

Max had to do something, she couldn't just let that poor girl get hurt. Jeb told her that she had a hero complex and that fighting for the underdog was her fatal flaw. She really didn't see it as a flaw at this point. It would only take a few minutes to kick some puny human boy butt, and then she'd be on her way to save Angel.

She would fly extra fast to make up for lost time. A little voice in the back of her head, probably the voice of reason, told her that every second down there was another second that Angel was trapped in that hellhole otherwise known as the School undergoing God knows what kinds of torture. Max's stomach clenched in fury and nausea just thinking about it.

But that girl down there was somebody's daughter, maybe somebody's sister. She couldn't just leave that girl to the mercy of those mean looking guys, who looked a year or two older than Max.

Max would want somebody to save Angel, Nudge or any one of her Flock if they ever needed it. Max made one of her snap decisions right then. She was about to tell Fang to take Nudge and they'd meet up at Lake Mead at sunset. Lake Mead was only a few hours away from the School.

She looked over at Fang.

"No." he said flatly, not even looking at her eyes. Her light brown eyes hardened.

Max opened her mouth to speak again, her eyes narrowed.

"No." he said again.

"Meet me at the northernmost point of Lake Mead," Max said. Fang looked as stubborn as she did. There was no way that he was going to let Max put her hide on the line just to save some random kid. There were other things to worry about they had to save Angel as soon as they could.

Their eyes met, black irises versus light brown ones in a showdown of who would back down first.

Fang wasn't usually like this. Usually, he backed up her decisions. Usually. This time, he was dead set against her. Him and his logic.

Nudge had slowed down. She must have heard Max speak.

"What? What are you talking about?" Nudge asked. "Are we stopping? I'm hungry again."

Nudge's innocent brown eyes looked hopeful. You'd never know it by looking at her, but that girl could _eat_.

Fang looked at Max dryly.

"Max wants to go be Supergirl, defender of the weak." Fang said in an annoyed tone. Max shot him a glare.

"Oh." Nudge said, sounding both disappointed and confused, but trying to hide it.

Max was already circling in decent. Fang wasn't the leader. It wasn't up to him to tell her what to do. That girl needed help. Why couldn't he see that?

"Oh! Max, remember when you got that little rabbit away from the fox, and we kept it in a carton in the kitchen, and when it was well you let it go? That was cool." Nudge took a breath before continuing, "Do you see another rabbit?" Nudge scanned the ground, looking for small mammals in distress.

"Kind of," Max replied shortly as she descended farther. She didn't have time to argue, that girl could already be hurt. "It'll take two seconds."

"I'll catch up with you guys before you've gone forty miles. Just keep on course, and if anything weird happens, I'll meet you at Lake Mead." Max said. She had to make sure that Fang understood the plan. The results could be disastrous if not.

It would've been better if Fang and Nudge landed with Max, hiding in the bushes if she needed any help in case something weird did happen.

Fang thought that it was a dumb idea to begin with and really didn't want to waste more time. He wished that they could just keep going. Sure, it was sad that the girl was in trouble, but they had other things to worry about. Stuff like the fact that Angel was in terrible danger, worse than what those guys would ever do to that girl.

Fang stared straight ahead, careful to keep his eyes from coming into contact with Max's. He didn't want his eyes to betray his emotions. The wind whipped through his shaggy, pitch black hair. He hated, hated, _hated_ this plan.

At this point, Max didn't care what he thought; she was going to do this.

"Okay," said Max, making sure that Fang knew that the conversation was over, closed, ended, no more arguing with Max. "See you in a few."

Fang rolled his dark eyes as Max looped a few times until she landed on the ground far below.

-XOXO-

Max landed in the scratch bushes behind an old warehouse that looked like it hadn't been used since the Native Americans roamed freely in the wilderness.

Max pulled her wings back tightly against her back. She pulled her windbreaker over the slits in her loose t-shirt. Perfect. She looked perfectly normal.

She smirked. Those dumb boys wouldn't know what hit them. Max walked around the corner of the warehouse to find the three burly boys circled around the girl like hungry jackals around their next meal.

The boys looked around fifteen or sixteen years old. They were a little bit taller than her and she was five feet and eight inches tall. The girl was about thirteen. She had dark, glossy brown hair that went down to her shoulder blades. Her light brown eyes looked a lot like Max's. The girl's almond shaped eyes gave away the fact that she was scared, even though she was trying to hide it.

He boy was yelling at the girl, about how she told someone that he had beaten up another boy. Poor kid.

"He looked like he got hit by a truck! And he didn't do anything to you." The girl fired at the boy in the middle, despite her fear.

Max silently cheered the girl on.

"He mouthed off to me. He exists. He breathes my air." The guy in the middle said. The other boys laughed like the knuckleheads that they were.

Max hated them. They thought that they were better than everyone else and beat up on people smaller than they were. The scary thing was, the guy on the left was holding a shotgun. Why did he have one of those? What a creep.

Max had enough of them scaring that poor girl. She needed to teach these guys some respect. The girl glanced at Max. The boys wheeled around to look at Max.

They turned around without giving her a second glance. They noticed the fact that she still looked like she'd been through an especially rough bar fight from the Eraser attack a day or so ago.

The boys stood their ground on the cracked asphalt. The girl kept looking at Max with interest.

Max had never really anticipated a fight quite like the way that she was now. Those boys deserved whatever they got. The world had way too many dumb bullies around and not nearly the right amount of good people.

The boys spoke, with their backs toward Max.

"So, Ella, what have you got to say for yourself?" the guy in the middle, apparently the leader leered haughtily. "Is there any reason I shouldn't teach you a lesson too?"

"Three guys against one girl. That seems about even." Max said with a sarcastic gleam in her eyes. She walked up through the ring of boys and stepped in front of the girl, whose name was apparently Ella.

"Shut up, chick." One of the boys snapped. Max's hands balled up into fists of fury. Fang, Iggy and Gazzy knew better than to call her a 'chick'. "You better get out of here if you know what's good for you."

Ella looked at Max, silently warning her to just leave before they both got hurt.

"Can't," Max said, staring at the boys coldly. "Actually, I think kicking your stupid butts would be good for me."

They laughed, further proving the fact that they were stupid and really didn't know who they were dealing with. Max couldn't wait to see the shock on their arrogant faces as she knocked some sense into them.

Max was just worried that the Ella girl would get hurt.

"Grab Big Mouth," the lead guy said and his two goon buddies moved in on Max.

Max tensed up; adrenaline pouring into her veins.

_Here we go,_ Max thought.

She'd only practiced fighting with Fang, who was a lot stronger and more durable than humans. This was going to be a new experience for her.

In a flash, Max kicked the lead idiot's chest, and instead of knocking his breath away, like it would have for Fang, it cracked a couple of the guy's ribs. The guy's eyes watered in disbelief and pain as he fell over backwards on the ground.

The other two guys saw their buddy fall on the ground and both came at Max at once. Max realized with disappointment that she had to soften her blows. She would end up killing one of these guys if she didn't. She wanted to hurt them, not murder them.

She snagged the shotgun from one guy and spun around, cracking the side of his head with the butt of the gun.

He staggered backwards, crimson blood pouring from a nasty cut on his temple. He went down. Max glanced at Ella, who looked petrified.

"Run! Get out of here!" Max shouted at Ella. Ella paused, as if wanting to stay to help, but decided to turn and run, leaving a cloud of dry red dust in her wake.

The last guy grabbed Max on the arm, tight enough to leave little, finger sized bruises. Max ferociously yanked her arm away, and swung her arm for a strong punch. She was aiming for his chin, but he moved and the blow landed on his ugly nose instead. Max felt his nose snap under the blow and winced in almost-sympathy as blood began to pour out of it.

The boys were moaning and groaning pathetically. Poor saps. They shakily got up, spitting out blood and muttering curses at Max. The guy picked up the shotgun that was lying on the ground, long forgotten.

He cocked it, aiming for Max.

"You're gonna be so sorry." He promised, his voice clogged by the fat lip that he had received somewhere.

"Bet I won't." Max said as she bolted off into the thick woods.

The boys, wincing and cursing, fumbled through the woods behind her, but at a much slower pace. Max would have taken off into the clouds and be away from that place, but those gun carrying yahoos might see her. She couldn't let those buttheads see her wings. She ran through the underbrush, thanking her stars that she was wearing sneakers. Occasional twigs and leaves snapped and rustled beneath her light gait, but that noise was nothing compared to the noise those boys chasing her were making. They sounded like an angry stampede of elephants.

Max was putting more and more distance. Soon, she'd be far enough from them to open her wings and fly. Then there was the gunshot. That stupid gun.

-XOXO-

Fang and Nudge flew onward. Nudge filling the silence with meaningless chatter. Fang tuned her out and focused on his thoughts instead.

Max. God, she was so stubborn. One of these days, her need to save the underdog would get her killed or worse. That was exactly what he was afraid of.

She was a big girl, she could take care of herself. Fang tried reassuring himself. They really needed to move on. Besides, Max could deck all of those humans in her sleep. If they really were human. They could be a new, teenage form of Eraser.

Uneasiness churned in Fang's stomach. Max was more than capable of handling herself… if they were Erasers, she could just fly off and be gone. She did tend to be thickheaded. She'd never leave that girl to the mercy of the Erasers.

Silently cursing himself and Max's thick-headedness, Fang tilted one of his wings and turned around in the opposite direction, back to where Max landed. Nudge noticed that he had turned around, and assaulted him with a thousand questions at high speed. He tuned her out like he usually did. This went on for a few minutes, Nudge changing subjects constantly and not even getting mad that Fang hadn't even told her why he was turned around, defying Max's direct orders.

Nudge knew exactly why Fang had turned around he liked her, more than a friend it was obvious, Max just didn't see it. Even with Fang being as impassive as he was, it was still kind of obvious by the way that he treated her differently from everyone else in the Flock. He looked at her a lot when he thought that no one was looking. Angel, who had been spying in his thoughts one day, had told Nudge that Fang loved Max a lot. More than he loved the rest of the Flock, even.

Then, Fang's ultra-sensitive ears picked up the sound of a gunshot from the woods. Fang tried to focus his hawk-like vision in on them, but the brush was too thick to see them. His heart rate quickened in peril.

"Nudge, go on to Lake Mead. Find a cave. Somewhere high up. Wait for me there. I'll be back with Max." Fang said shortly.

"Wait? What happened? Do you think that she got shot? What if she did get shot! Would you be able to carry her that far?" Nudge rattle. Fang held up his hand, the motion meaning 'pause the Nudge Channel for a second'.

"I don't know what happened. Here's the backpack. Just go." Fang said, his tone remaining pretty much emotionless except for the tiny bit of impatience.

Nudge knew not to argue with Fang when he was like that. Fang tossed her the backpack and she wrapped a strap around her wrist a few times. It would've been hard to put the backpack on her back while flying in midair.

Without another word, Fang plummeted to the ground. About twenty or thirty feet from the treetops, he suddenly unfurled his wings, ignoring the pain that the sudden jolt of having his wings almost ripped out caused.

He flew above the trees, searching for a clearing to land in. If those guys had hurt her, he was going to kill them.

Then, there was another gunshot. A few birds took off from a tree a dozen yards to the north of him. The gunshot had startled them. Fang heard the boys fumbling through the woods. They were as graceful as water buffaloes.

Fang glided over to the trees where the birds had been frightened out of. There was a small clearing a little ways from the trees; and sprinting across the clearing clutching her shoulder was Max.

Fang swooped down and landed in the clearing without a sound.

"Max," he said, his deep voice echoing through the small field. Max's head whipped over, her face hard. Then, it softened when she saw that it was Fang.

"Fang," She said, obviously trying to keep the relief out of her voice. In a second, he was by her side.

Fang glanced at the shoulder that she was grasping. He saw that blood was oozing through her pale fingers. His eyes hardened to a darker black than before, if possible.

"They shot you?" Fang asked quietly as he gestured in the direction of the loud noises that the fumbling guys in the woods were making.

"Yeah, pretty stupid of me. A bunch of Erasers and whitecoats can't get me, but I get shot by a bunch of stupid human boys." Max said, trying to grin, but it looked more like a grimace. Fang knew that she was in bad shape, and he hated those stupid boys for doing that to her.

"Can you fly?" Fang said. Max cut him off.

Max attempted to unfurl her wings. The muscle of her right wing quivered, but barely moved. Max gritted her teeth and her eyes watered. Blood gushed even more through her tight fingers. The bullet must've hit her wing. For all he knew, the bullet could still be lodged within the muscle in her wing.

"Okay! Go find somewhere safe. I'll catch up." Fang said in an unreadable tone. He eyed the woods coldly. Max knew that look. He usually reserved that soul chilling stare for Erasers, whitecoats from when they were at the School, and when they got in a bad fight.

"Fang," Max said in a warning tone. She winced as a wave of pain emanated through her shoulder. Fang watched her and grew even madder at the boys. They were going to pay for messing with Max.

No one, _no one_ hurt _his_ Flock. Especially Max.

"Go! You don't have time! Just go!" Fang barked, his tone clearly stating that he considered the conversation over. Max scowled at him. He wasn't the leader, she was. She gave the orders around here.

She hated it, but he was right. She didn't have time to argue. She definitely couldn't fight like this. She'd bleed out or pass out or worse. She knew that Fang was going to beat the crap out of those boys. She really didn't have a choice.

"Don't hurt them too bad." Max said flatly. Fang stared at her until his gaze made her uncomfortable. She walked off into the woods, her blood loss making her a little off balance.

Fang stood at the edge of the forest, blending in to the dark shadows.

The first boy stumbled into the edge of the clearing, cursing and tripping over small rocks. Two other boys fumbled out after him.

Fang would've smirked if he wasn't so darn mad at them. Sure, they looked like football players. But they were weak humans hiding behind a gun. If they couldn't defend their own skins by their own fists, then they didn't deserve to keep them. Cowards, they were all cowards.

Fang stood still as the idiot humans approached.

"What are you doing out here?" the boy with the shotgun asked. Fang clenched his fists. So he was the one who shot Max. That guy was going down first.

"Have you seen a chick running through here? We're… we need to show her something." The boy with the gun said with a wolfish grin. The other two thugs sniggered. Fang's blood pulsed angrily through his veins, but he kept silent.

"What's your problem? Did you see her or not?" snapped a guy impatiently. He said it strangely, because he had a fat lip; Max's work, no doubt. Fang maybe would've smirked at him if these guys hadn't shot Max.

"What, are we not important enough to talk to? Maybe we should teach you a lesson too!" snarled the boy with the gun. The two other guys went straight for Fang.

One boy swung high, aiming for Fang's face. He was, of course, taller than them. After all, he was six feet tall. These guys might be older than him, but he was a heck of a lot stringer, taller, and smarter than all of them put together. He knew that they weren't Erasers though. They would have morphed already.

Fang, looking bored, grabbed the guy's fist while it was in motion. The guy looked dumbstruck, but his stupefied expression was soon replaced by one of agony as Fang crushed the guy's hand without blinking an eye. Bones snapped under Fang's lethal grasp and the boy howled in pain. Crybaby.

Fang released the boy's ruined hand and Fang kicked the boy in his chest. Multiple snaps and cracks echoed through the small clearing as the boy's ribs snapped. The boy went down on the ground, soundless, but his expression was that of pure pain. Fang kicked the boy's face for good measure. Fang heard the loud snap of a broken nose and blood dribbled out of the boy's mouth, along with a few teeth. Fang gave the boy one final blow to the side of the head. He wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. That is, if he woke up at all. Fang couldn't have cared less.

The next boy looked less than sure about attacking Fang now that he saw his buddy get beaten into a bloody pulp. That really made Fang mad.

"You can beat up on girls, but won't fight when you have a chance of getting beaten? That's pathetic." Fang stated coldly. The guy looked at Fang in fright.

The thug who wasn't out cold on the ground took a shaky step backwards. Oh, no. Fang was not going to let him off that easy. He had hurt Max. He was going to pay.

Before the boy could run, Fang lunged. Fang punched the guy to the side of his face, and gave him an uppercut just as fast. The boy lurched unsteadily.

Fang grabbed the kid by the collar and slugged him across the face a few times. The boy's nose, which was already broken, was pouring blood and was now probably damaged beyond repair. Fang didn't give a crap. The boy would be lucky to get out of this in an urn.

"Don't mess with people. You don't know who will get even." Fang said darkly into the boy's ear.

The boy's eyes sluggishly closed, as if he was a drunkard passing out. Fang dropped the boy unceremoniously in the ground. The boy slumped into a bloodstained heap. Fang sure hoped that he got the message.

Two down, the ringleader with a gun left to go. The leader was sure looking less cocky now. Fang could see the fear in the loser's eyes. He'd save the best for last.

"So Big Mouth was your girlfriend?" sneered gun-boy. "Figures. She's a wh-" the boy didn't get to finish his insult. Fang slugged him in the gut, easily knocking the breath out of him, leaving him gasping for like a fish out of water.

"Maybe. Now, I teach _you_ a lesson." Fang growled. He sounded so dark and sinister, it gave gun-boy goosebumps and made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. The boy stepped back. Fang kicked the boy where it counts and the boy keeled over. The boy's grip on the gun slacked to nothing and the shotgun clattered to the dry ground.

Fang grabbed the boy's collar and slammed the boy's head against his knee. Then he did it again. Fang released the boy, and gun-boy staggered backwards, spitting out blood, and a few teeth.

"Fine, I won't mess with your chick. Whatever. There's plenty of others to choose from. Oh, when I get my hands on that Ella girl, I'm gonna…" gun-boy started venomously. Fang's glare was so intense, the gun-boy just about died of fright.

Fang picked up the boy's shotgun emotionlessly. The boy was visibly shaking, his eyes big and wide with fear.

Now he knew what it was like to be at th mercy of someone who was bigger and stronger than them.

"Wrong answer." Fang said coldly as he swung the gun around and hit the boy's shoulder. Something cracked, because the boy had tears streaming from his eyes. Stupid wimp.

Fang swung his leg in a powerful swoop and hit the boy's lower leg at such force, that there was another crack.

_Humans are as weak as rice-paper_. Fang observed. The boy fell on his face into the dirt. He moaned pitifully, but didn't get up.

"No one likes bullies. If you do it again, I _will_ be back and I _won't_ be so nice." Fang said calmly, but there was a cold steel edge within his deep voice.

With that, Fang walked over to a nearby tree, gun still in hand, and swung it like a baseball bat would be swung to hit an out-of-the-park homerun. The gun splintered into dozens of pieces and Fang left its splintered remains at the base of the tree.

As silent as a ghost, Fang walked across the clearing and disappeared into the forest, blending in as if he were a mere shadow.

-XOXO-

"Max," Fang called into the woods. He didn't hear her in the woods. She had to be around here somewhere. Fang's superfast genetically enhanced heartbeat sped up. What if Max had stopped somewhere and bled out? He'd never find her. She could be dead.

Fang couldn't stand the thought and brutally shoved it aside. Max was here, he knew it.

"Max!" Fang called a little bit louder.

"I'm right here, idiot." Max snapped from a few yards to the West of him. Fang was by her side in moments.

"Well, Supergirl, what now?" Fang asked dryly. In response, Max slugged his shoulder with her good arm, but it was weak compared to what he normally would've gotten from her.

"You," Max said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Fang knew that she was in a lot of pain and was desperately insisting on being tough in front of him even if it was the last thing that she ever did. Tough, sarcastic, and a kick-but leader until the end.; that was his Max.

Max let the breath out, but it sounded more like a hiss, considering that it was released through Max's tightly clenched teeth. "You will help me patch this up, we'll get to flying to Nudge before she starts to worry, and then we'll kick some whitecoat and Erase butt while we rescue Angel." Max stated so matter-of-fact.

Fang winced. He was about to get an earful and then they'd both be screwed.

"I left the pack with Nudge." Fang said quietly, looking Max in the eye. Max looked peeved, but didn't say anything.

"At least you didn't leave her with nothing. You could've brought some bandages though." Max said; grimacing as the blood flowed more steadily from her shoulder.

Fang rolled his eyes.

"I left the first aid kit with Nudge in case she got hurt. I thought that you could handle yourself." Fang said. Max glared at him.

"I can handle myself!" Max snapped indignantly. Her hand was completely red from the blood that was gushing out of her shoulder and it was steadily streaming down her arm.

He looked at her arm and looked at her in a 'are you blind?' sort of way.

"Besides, if you thought that I could handle myself, why did you come back?" Max shot at him. He didn't bother replying. He could say a thousand things, but as usual, he remained silent.

"Well, I say let's nick some duct tape from a shed somewhere, wrap this up and get going." Max said, her leader tone faltering. Not good.

She had to be kidding herself. This was bad, something that duct tape could not fix. Heck, the first aid kid probably wouldn't do much good at this point. She was bleeding too much. She needed help.

Oh, they were so screwed. They couldn't go to a hospital. There were whitecoats swarming all the hospitals this close to the School and they'd get put in a freak side show when the doctors got a look at their wings.

Max could die, Max probably would die if they didn't get professional medical attention soon. Fang had one idea, but it was crazy. Nuts. He saw lights ahead in the rapidly darkening forest. The sun was setting and it would be dark soon. Fang let Max ahead, who was arguing and trying to pull away, but her faint pulling was nothing in Fang's vice-like grip.

In a moment, they were standing at the edge of a forest, staring at a house. A house where Max may or may not get help. A house where Max may or may not die.

**This ended up being a two-part thing. I'll add the other chapter soon, if anyone bothers to review. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been busy and have had headaches like you wouldn't believe! Anyways, thank you for the marvelous reviews and I hope that you enjoy the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: (see first chapter) **

"Are you… Are you _crazy_?" Max said, taking a breath in the middle of the sentence.

Fang was nervous. Max was in bad shape. He could feel the pulse in her wrist getting slower, a very bad sign. Max didn't have much longer.

"No choice." Fang said shortly as he practically dragged her closer to the house. He hoped that it was some nice family there, not some pervert or a territorial nimrod with a gun. He'd had enough of guns for one day. With his luck, however, the chances weren't in his favor.

The front door to the house opened and Fang froze like he'd been turned to stone. He pulled Max behind him, causing her to hiss protests between her bared teeth.

Light flooded the dark lawn from the open door. A small, fluffy dog darted outside and stared sniffing around in the yard, looking for the perfect spot to do its business. Fang slowly took a step back into the woods.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea, but he hadn't seen to many psycos with such well-kept dogs. Then, a girl, the same one that Max had dived down to rescue not too long ago, stepped out of the house and into the yard.

It started to rain, just to make a bad day worse. Icy droplets fell from the sky, faster and faster until it was an epic downpour. Fang could feel Max shivering against his back. Suddenly, an image of him holding her close and keeping her warm by wrap his wings around her appeared in his mind; but he would never do such a thing.

He wasn't usually the touchy-feely type of person. He wondered where in the heck the idea came from. Mostly, he wanted to know why he really, really wanted to do it so bad. He was hoping that he was wrong, but he had an idea explaining why he felt so differently about Max.

He liked her, more than a friend. Like a girlfriend. He hoped he was wrong, for everyone's sake. The School would undoubtedly use that against Max and he would only be a distraction to her. Besides, he knew that Max didn't think of him that way. He didn't want to ruin the best-friend thing he had going with her. He would take what he could get from Max, even if it meant being Max's best friend-not boyfriend for eternity. She'd never treat him the same way if she knew any of this. In times where he thought about all the strange stuff like this, he was sure glad that Angel was the Flock's only mind-reader, and not Max.

Max was soaked to the bone and she was looking even paler in the warm, buttery light leaking into the yard from the house's open front door.

Fang took a quiet breath. He was soaking wet, his pitch black hair lying flat against his skull and almost completely concealing his eyes. His black t-shirt, now drenched with the freezing rain, was clinging to his lean, muscular torso.

The girl that Max saved, Ella, was holding a small pink umbrella above her head, protecting her from the torrents of the icy rain.

"Come on Magnolia," Ella said stepping closer to the dog, closer to him and Max. Max looked wide eyed at Fang, like 'I can't believe that you're actually going to do this.' The pale, bedraggled state that Max was in was enough to ignite Fang's courage and step out of the busy scrub and into the yard.

Ella's back was to Fang, who was gently steering Max towards Ella.

Fang cleared his throat, behind Ella. Ella yelped and nearly jumped out of her skin. She was about to grab the little dog and bolt into the house when she saw Max.

Max new what she had to do. Fang wasn't exactly the best talker, especially when it came to strange humans. It was her turn to speak up and stop swooning like a prissy little princess.

"Ella, it's me. The girl from before." Max said. Fang to a step closer, right next to Max; he was a silent backup and reassurance to Max. The girl, Ella, squinted at Max to get a better look. She looked a little fearful of Fang though.

A flash or recognition flared through Ella's face. Ella relaxed, but her brown eyes kept darting back over to Fang's dark figure. The little dog barked a squeaky little note of warning.

"Oh, _yeah_. Hey, thanks – for helping me. " said Ella, focusing on Max through the thick rain. "Are you okay? What are you doing?" Ella's glances shot around, as if looking for nasty things to pop out of the bushes and attack. He gaze lingered on Fang. He didn't look very friendly, but he never did. He never looked especially mean either, unless you really ticked him off. He was just… Fang, but obviously, Ella wasn't used to him.

"I'm okay," Max said. Fang looked at her, his expression clearly stating that this was not the time to be lying about this. She really needed help. "Well, actually, I guess I need help." Max corrected. Fang had never heard Max utter those words before, but there was no alternative. They both silently hated this.

"Oh," said Ella. "Okay. Gosh. Did those guys …"

Fang's eyes hardened. Those guys were bad news. He had done everyone a favor by beating them into pulps. They could have done worse, if Max had run for much longer. Who knows what they could have done, but no one was going to hurt Max while he was there. Over his dead body, and one day, he was sure that it would come to that. At least he would have done his job to protect Max as well as he could have.

"One of them actually managed to clip me with some shot, if you can believe that." Max said slowly taking a tiny step forward.

Ella audibly gasped and put her hand over her mouth, kind of like the shocked actress would do in a dramatic scene in a TV show. Unfortunately, this was real life.

"Oh no! Why didn't you tell me? You're hurt? Why didn't you go into the hospital? Oh my gosh, come in!" Ella said quickly as she scampered inside, her little fluffy dog waddling in her footsteps.

Ella was already to the front door, and Max was still. This was her last chance. The moment that made it or broke it all. For all they knew, this could be a trap, who knows what was in that house, and she and Fang would die. Then Nudge would be panicked, lost, and alone with barely any supplies, Angel would be trapped in the School forever, and Iggy and Gazzy would be at home, waiting for a Flock that would never come home.

Max's stomach gurgled loudly and she was loopy from blood loss, cold and wet from the rain, and emotionally strung tight. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for a week.

"Are your parent's home?" Max called from the yard. Ella shook off the umbrella on the front step and folded it up. The little dog shook off until it looked like a little cream colored lint ball.

"There's just my mom." Ella said simply. "No dad. Come on, let's get you inside, my mom can help." Max stood stock still.

Fang gently nudged her forward with his hand on her shoulder. Max shivered. The warmth from his hand leaked through the sopping, cold material of her shirt. Her skin was cold and clammy.

"Can you walk okay?" Ella asked, and then figured that I would help her if she couldn't. Ella didn't ask who Fang was, she was very curious, but frankly to intimidated to try.

Max nodded and walked forward, Fang's hand warm and reassuring on her shoulder. She cradled her bad arm with her good one and just wished that this were all over.

In the better light, Ella saw the red blood streaming down from Max's shoulder.

"Oh my God! Is that blood?" Ella panicked, staring at Max's bad shoulder. Her pale blue jacket would never be the same again. "Oh no, come on! We have to get you inside quick! Mom! Mom! This girl needs help!" Ella shouted into the house. Reluctantly, Max and Fang stepped into the house, and Fang slowly shut the door behind him. The house had a warm feel to it, making Max shiver more. Fang could hear her teeth chattering and hoped that they could get on with it.

Then, a dark haired woman with eyes much like Ella's walked into the room. She wore a normal cream colored t-shirt with comfortable looking jeans. Like normal mom. Not like a whitecoat or Eraser or an evil psychopathic murderer. You never could really know though.

"What is it, Ella? What's wrong?" The woman said. She even _sounded_ motherly. Then she caught sight of Max's shivering form and Fang's dark, guarded expression.

"Mom, this is…" Ella gestured generally towards Max and Fang, waiting for them to fill their names in the blank. Fang quickly rifled through all the normal human names that he could use as a cover. He was already piecing a believable cover story together.

"Max." Max said immediately. Fang shot her an accusatory glare. Max didn't look at him and looked at the floor. Fang immediately felt bad, but she had just given them valuable information. She was in so much pressure and pain, that she really didn't think about the whole fake-information plan. Fang softened his glare for Max and returned to his intimidating, protective stare.

Well, if she was putting her identity on the line he would too. If thy asked, he would tell them his name, like Max. But the cover story… it was still believable.

Ella's mom glanced at the silent Fang, whose unnerving dark stare caused her to quickly revert her eyes back towards Ella and Max.

"My friend Max." Ella continued. "She's the girl that I told you about. The one who saved me from Jose and Dwayne and them."

"So those are the names of your victims." Max muttered weakly to Fang, so quiet that only a bird-kid's ultra-sensitive hearing would be able to decipher it. Fang almost smirked; almost.

"She saved me. But they shot her." Ella finished. Ella's mom's expression turned serious not panicked, like Max and Fang had expected. She was either really good at dealing with disasters, or was expecting something like this to happen. The mere thought of being in a trap with Max in such a bad state put Fang's teeth on edge.

"Oh, no!" Ella's mom exclaimed. "Please Max and uh…" Ella's mom waited for Fang to fill in his name, but he didn't. He looked at her stoically with an intense, 'if-you-even-think-about- hurting-her-you'll-pay' aurora rolling off of him. "…Please, come in and take your shoes off. You're probably freezing. Do you want to call your parents?" Ella's mom finished earnestly.

Max and Fang shared a private smirk. They imagined calling up the School and asking if they could please speak to the test tube that they had sprung out of. That would be an awkward conversation.

"Umm…" Max started. Fang was about to have to speak up with their cover story when he saw Ella's mom look, really look at them and all their injuries. She saw glanced at Max's black eye and the various scratches from Eraser attacks. She even dared to do a quick look over of Fang. He had a deep scratch from the Eraser attack and his nose was a little crooked from being broken by an Eraser. He had a bruise under his cheek, a hit that had almost given him a black eye. Not to mention the fact that Max's jacket and t-shirt were soaked with her own blood.

Dr. Martinez probably thought that they were runaways, because she immediately dropped the 'parent' question.

"Let me get my stuff," Ella's mom said gently. Fang quirked an eyebrow. What kind of 'stuff'? Drugs? Dogs? Weapons? Erasers? Nets? With the whitecoats, you never really knew. "Take off your shoes and jackets. Ella will show you to the bathroom."

Max slid off a black combat boot and was struggling to get the other one with one hand when Fang stepped in. Wordlessly, he crouched down and slid her shoe off. He also pulled her wet socks off her feet.

"Thanks." Max muttered. "Will you file my nails next, servant?"

"If that is your command, your Highness." Fang mumbled in Max's ear, his deep voice sending chills down her back. She blamed those on the fact that she was freezing cold. "But your nails need a whole lot more than filing. Maybe a chainsaw would make a difference."

Max sent him a sarcastic look. Ella leaned against the wall, taking off her soaked sneakers, completely oblivious to Max and Fang's barely audible conversation.

"Hey, take off your shoes. She doesn't want us to track mud and God knows what else into the house." Max murmured to Fang. He was keeping his combat boots on in case a fight broke out. His blows would be more powerful if he was wearing shoes.

Maybe he was overreacting a little. This could be just a nice lady's house. He didn't want to get him and Max kicked back out into the rain because he was being paranoid and tracked water all over the nice wood floor.

Wordlessly, he took off his combat boots and socks, leaving a puddle of water by the door. He took off his black leather jacket. He hung it on the hook. His wings were safely hidden beneath his t-shirt. Wait, the water made his shirt clingy, it would cling to his back, therefore, making his wings visible.

He was about to put his jacket back on, when he thought of the moment where Ella's mom would have to patch Max's arm up, she would see Max's wings as well. Then, it wouldn't really matter anyways.

He helped Max take her jacket off. She obviously had the same thoughts.

"It doesn't matter. They'll know eventually." Fang answered. Max tensed. Just the thought of Ella and Ella's mom seeing her wings was enough to make her shudder. "Hey," Fang said sharply enough to make her head whip over to him. "It'll be fine."

Max admired his ability to lie almost better than she did. He was pretty darn good at it. Ella led Max and Fang down the hallway, their bare feet barely making a sound on the shiny wood floor.

"What is she going to get?" Max asked Ella in hushed tones. Ella turned around a corner and walked into a large-ish bathroom.

"Her doctor stuff." Ella said softly. "She's a vet, so she's good with injuries. Even on people."

Max and Fang looked at each other and Fang just had to smirk. Max started laughing weakly.

Seriously, Ella's mom was a vet? What were the chances? They probably needed a vet more than they needed a doctor anyhow, considering that Max's wing was majorly screwed up.

Max sat on the edge of the bathtub and Fang stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. The top of his black mop of hair brushed against the top of the doorframe. Clearly, the house _was not_ built for bird kids… or tall people.

Ella leaned against the wall, nervously shifting from foot to foot. Then, Ella's mom walked in the room with a big clear plastic box filled to the brim with first aid supplies. Fang stepped out of the way so that she could get through. Ella's mom set the box of medical supplies on the sink and she sat on the toilet lid, near Max.

"Ella, maybe you could get Max some juice or something. She probably needs some sugar and fluids." Dr. Martinez said as she popped the lid off of the plastic box.

"Juice would be _great._" Max said emphatically.

Ella nodded and ran past Fang and took off down the hall. Fang hoped that she didn't poison it or something.

"Now, I take it that you don't want me to talk to your parents." Ella's mom said as she took a pair of shears out of the box and slowly started cutting Max's shirt off.

Fang swallowed. He knew what was going on here. Now, he had to make a difficult and slightly tempting decision.

Max was going to be there, shirtless. He had the decency to feel somewhat embarrassed. He could be a gentleman and get out of there and wait in the hall, leaving Max and Ella's mom alone in the bathroom, with a big box of medical nasty things and who knows what else. They could tranquilize Max and he wouldn't know it until it was too late. The only other thing that he could do was stay there, and get the evil eye from Max while she was getting stitched up. But at least if anything looked suspicious, he could immediately jump in and they would be safe.

He looked at Max, whose shirt was half off. Her brown eyes were looking warily at the medical box. Fang swore that he saw medical needles in there. He shot her a look that said 'what do you want me to do?' Max's eyes clearly said 'go, but stay close. _Very_ close.'

Fang nodded. He turned and sat outside in the hall, right next to the open door. His long legs were out, crossed and blocking the hallway floor.

Some strange and most definitely male part of his brain begged him to peek around the doorframe and sneak a peek at Max in her bra, but she was his friend. She'd never forgive him for it. Usually tried to shut the perverted, guy part of his brain up with emotionlessness, but sometimes even that failed.

"Uh, no. Don't call them." Max said. Fang listened intently, making his acute hearing hyper-aware to every sound in that room. He hear one final snip and heard the fabric of Max's shirt fall to the tile floor.

His heart-rate went nuts at the sound of that, the audio affirmation that Max was completely without a shirt. In the room next to him. Where he could peek around the corner, and she might not even notice. She probably had her eyes trained on the door though, making sure that his eyes remained away from her.

He thought about something, anything to get his mind off its current dilemma. Unfortunately, that thought happened to be Nudge, alone by Lake Mead, with only a backpack full of beef jerky and canned Vienna sausages, in that cold, cold rain. He then thought of Angel, cowering in a dog crate, then dead on a cold steel table in the School. Her blue eyes empty and lifeless. Her warm skin now deathly pale and cold. Her face frozen in one final scream of terror.

He clenched his fists. He'd had it. He wanted to leave. Desperately, he would have flown through that freezing rain and gale force winds that were howling high up in the sky. He would have found Nudge, and then they would have broken into the School and freed Angel from those soul-sucking sadistic cretins. But Max was here. There was no way that he was leaving her now. She can't even fly.

"Or the police, right?" Ella's mom said, waking Fang from his mental musings. Yeah, calling the police would be bad. Way too many unwanted questions. Not to mention the fact that they would probably end up in a zoo.

"No need to involve them. Besides, I believe that they got their punishment." Max said with a hint of humor. Fang almost snorted. Darn right, those guys were still probably laying and moaning in the woods, in the middle of this crazy rainstorm. Good, they deserved it and a whole lot worse for screwing with Max.

Fang heard Max suck in a breath. Instinctively, his head peered around the corner. Horrible images of Ella's mom stabbing Max in the gut with a knife or injecting some kind of horrible poison into Max's veins came to mind.

Fang almost sighed with relief. Ella's mom was only gently examining Max's wound. Max was obviously biting back growls of pain. Fang felt bad for her. She didn't deserve to go through this, and he hated those stupid boys even more for doing it to her. At least they wouldn't be using that gun anymore.

"I think that the bullet only grazed me." Max said. She had her eyes locked on Ella's mom's hands, softly moving her arm so that she could get a full view of it. Then, Max looked at the doorway. Fang realized what he's been caught doing. Max's eyes widened.

"Get out, Fang! God, you pervert!" Max snarled. In an instant, Fang yanked his head out of the doorway. He stared at the wall opposite of him in the hallway. She obviously thought that he'd had the wrong intentions. That was _so_ Max; she just assumed that he was doing something wrong.

Fang's heart was running a marathon. Looking at Max topless was the last thing on his mind, but he had noticed. He still was a guy, and he still liked her, more than a friend. Maybe even more than that. Besides, Max was dang scary when she was that mad. She'd surprised him, to say in the least.

"Yes, I think that you're right, but it's pretty deep and messy and…" Ella's mom stopped talking. Max closed her eyes. No one, No one, _no one_ outside of the Flock was allowed to see their wings; ever. Max winced, and waited for the screaming, the freaking out.

Fang saw Ella leap like a gazelle over his outstretched legs and bolt into the bathroom, with a tall, towering glass filled to the brim with orange juice. Ella didn't spill a drop.

Fang listened intently to everything that was happening in the bathroom. Ella handed Max the glass.

"Thanks," Max murmured as she downed the entire glass without a second breath. It was quiet.

"Max," Ella's mom said in awe. "What… what is this?"

Max felt Ella's mom's hand brush against the feathers on the edges of her wings. From the hallway, Fang stiffened. He would fly with Max in his arms if he had to, because now, there would be screaming, then Max and Fang would have to high-tail it out of there before they'd get thrown into a traveling circus.

"It's… it's a wing. Um, my wing. It got hurt too." Max said quietly. Fang's stomach churned. This was breaking the major Flock law. Do _not ever_ show anyone your wings. Max felt like she was going to be sick, which would be kind of dumb, since she was starving.

Max stared at her bare feet and curled her toes inward nervously.

Fang was dying to see Ella and her mother's expressions. He just didn't want to get yelled at by Max. And now she thought that he was a pervert. He just couldn't win.

Max looked timidly at Ella and her mom's expressions. Their eyes widened, and widened, and widened until Max swore that it was impossible for eyes to get and larger.

"Wha…" Ella said in awe. Ella's mother casually examined Max's wing, like winged kids were something that she came across frequently.

Max felt like she was going to pass out.

"And that boy in the hall… he's got wings too, right." Ella's mom said as she looked closely at the deep gash where the bullet passed through her wing.

"Fang…" Max said quietly. He stood up. "Come over here. Show them. So they don't think that they're crazy."

Fang appeared in the doorway. Max crossed her arms in front of her bra. He was specifically not looking anywhere below her eyes.

"Turn around." Max ordered. Fang rolled his glittering obsidian eyes. He turned around so that his back was turned to Max, Ella and her mother.

Fang knew what to do next. He shrugged his shoulders forward, making his wing joints more free to move. His black t-shirt was wet, so it did cling to his back. You could barely make out the shapes of his wings, tightly folded against his back. The long two slashes in the back of the shirt were sticking together, so anyone who didn't know Fang wouldn't know what color that his wings were.

Then, his wings twitched under his shirt and Fang moved his wings through the gashes in the back of his shirt until you could see his wings, shiny and midnight black. They were loosely splayed against his back.

His wings weren't spread out to their full size, of course. They were much too large for that.

Ella did not hide her amazement; her jaw gaped. Ella's mother, who had tried so hard to appear put-together, looked mystified.

Fang stepped out of the room without a word. Once out of sight, he ran his hand through his hair. Oh, if he had stayed with Nudge, and Max came back, all patched up and told him that she'd showed two complete strangers her wings, he would have killed her.

Now that he was here, there really wasn't anything else to do. There was no alternative, and he hated it. Anything but this. The house felt so small. He didn't care if it was raining, he wanted to burst out of there, spread his wings and pump his wings until he was high, high, high in the sky, away from there, flying towards Nudge and Angel, and forget that this ever happened. Feeling so free, so alive, bound by nothing except his loyalty to Max and the Flock. He would never leave Max though. Fang gritted his teeth.

Ella's mom took a deep breath, and in a calm, collected voice, spoke.

"Okay, Max. I'm going to have to clean those wounds and stop the bleeding. When was the last time that you had a tetanus shot?" Ella's mom said. Fang's ears perked up in anxiety at the word 'shot'. Max, Fang, the Flock, they all hated shots. They were given thousands of shots at the School, and all of them horrible.

"Um, never?" Max answered. Only Fang could pick up the disguised emotion in Max's voice. He wasn't sure that he was hearing correctly. It sounded like she was tearing up.

He had a desperate urge to be there, next to her, a silent reassurance to her. He didn't want her to feel alone.

"Okay, I can take care of that too." Ella's mother said easily as she rummaged in the box of mysterious medical supplies.

Fang decided to risk his hide, again, and go inside. Max would thank him later. He just had to know if she was alright.

Fang walked into the bathroom, without a sound.

"I thought that I told you…" Max started irritably. Fang held up a hand, cutting her off.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll keep my eyes shut." Fang said. Both Ella and her mother stared at Fang intently. It was the first time that he'd spoken the whole time that they'd known him.

"But why do you have to be _in_ here?" Max shot at him, glaring. Fang's eyes were shut, but if they were open, he would have been glaring at Max.

"Why do you think?" Fang said in a deadly calm voice. His tone of voice made it very clear that he had no boyish intentions.

Max bit back anything else that she had planned on saying. She was wrong about him. He was there to make sure that nothing happened to her. Even though having his eyes shut made the whole thing redundant logically, he was there for morale support as well.

Through the whole patching up and tetanus shot procedure, Fang didn't open his eyes once, but Max knew that he hadn't fallen asleep. He was way too tense; his muscles were as tight as bowstrings.

"Ella, get Max some of your clothes, some that you think will fit; _Comfortable ones." _Ella's mother said, emphasizing the 'comfortable' part. Ella must like those fashionable but impractical clothes.

It was probably like midnight or close to it by now.

"Max, you and… your friend can stay for the night. We have a spare bedroom and the couch in the living room pulls out to a bed. Since Ella is getting your clothes, Max, I'll have to dig out some of Ella's dad's clothes for…" Ella's mother said. It was really bothering her that she wasn't really introduced to Fang.

"Fang." Fang said. Dr. Martinez smiled. If they hadn't hurt Max so far, they probably wouldn't hurt her now. He trusted them, a little. At least, enough to tell them his name.

"Fang, you can come with me. I'll see if I can find anything. Without looking back at Max, Fang followed Dr. Martinez down the hall.

A moment later, Ella was in the bathroom. She led Max to the spare bedroom and turned around when Max began to change.

"You can put your wet clothes in a pile by the door; I'll throw them in the washing machine on my way out. You know… who was that boy that you were with? He's your boyfriend, I know that he is." Ella stated, filling in the silence. Max slung her wet jeans over by the door, like Ella said. Max was about to protest hotly that Fang most definitely was _not_ her boyfriend. He was her best friend, her beta; her… her… she wasn't really sure what he was anymore.

"It's okay; you don't have to admit it. I just can tell. Only a boyfriend would be that protective and dedicated to his girlfriend. Wow… I wish I had a boyfriend like that! All the boys at my school are cheating scumbags. It's hard to find boys like Fang. That was his name, right? That's what you called him?" Ella said. She was sort of like Nudge.

"Yeah, he's Fang." Max said quietly, Ella's words sinking in. That's exactly what Fang acted like. She'd always assumed that it was the best-friend/ her beta sort of behavior. Maybe that's all that it was. She hated thinking about all this sappy sort of romance stuff. It gave her migraines.

In a moment, Max was in dry, soft clothes that fit her surprisingly well.

"There's a hairdryer on the dresser over in the corner. The brush is in the top drawer to the far left." Ella said as she grabbed Max's soaked pile of clothes and closed the door behind her. Max walked over to the dresser. Usually, she never bothered to use a hairdryer, but today, she thought that it might be sort of relaxing.

In another room, Ella's mom had pulled a dusty box out of the master bedroom closet and opened it. There were a few t-shirts, some jeans, a work shirt, a tie, and some sweatpants.

Like her daughter, Ella's mom talked to fill the deafening silence also.

"So… Max is your girlfriend?" Ella's mom asked as she pulled out another box from the closet.

Fang chuckled darkly. Dr. Martinez was startled by the sound. It was like a mixture between a thundering waterfall and the booming of a distant thunderstorm.

"Not exactly." Fang said dryly. His voice was deep, strange for a teenager. She didn't even know how old he was. She didn't expect him to elaborate on the subject. She could tell when something was a sore topic.

"Max couldn't find someone better. I bet that she'll never have to worry with you around. She's well protected." Ella's mother said encouragingly. She sounded like a real mother.

"She got shot." Fang said. "They could have killed her, or worse."

Ella's mom bit her lip. It was strange, hearing him talk. He was so intimidating, that you'd have to be insane to attack anyone that he was protecting. She couldn't imagine him when he was mad.

"I doubt it. They were just kids. Besides, there's nothing worse than death." Ella's mother said.

"Kids aren't always what they seem, and there are many things that are worse than death." Fang answered. Her head was buzzing with dozens of questions, but she didn't want it to seem like an interview. She could tell that too many questions made Max and Fang uncomfortable.

Fang was just so mysterious; it was hard not to ask questions. If you ask one, his answer made you wonder at least twenty more.

Ella's mom pulled out a pair of black sweatpants, a gray and black t-shirt, and some boxers from the box.

"I hope that they fit. You can leave your wet clothes in the bathroom sink. I'll get them. They'll be ready by tomorrow. " Ella's mom said finally. Fang nodded in thanks and turned around to leave. She watched him leave the door. He was definitely the most guarded, mysterious one of the two.

Fang walked into the bathroom and changed into the clothes, throwing his wet clothes into the sink, like Ella's mom had asked. The clothes were loose on him, but comfortable, wearable.

He walked out of the bathroom and towards the living room. He stopped. If Erasers attacked in the night, Max would be all alone, and at a disadvantage with her injuries. They could kidnap her in the night and he wouldn't know until morning. Again, he made a hard choice.

Ella's mother probably wouldn't like it very much.

Fang turned and just somehow _knew_ what room Max was in. Just in case, he knocked lightly.

"Yes?" he heard Max say softly.

"You dressed?" Fang asked through the door.

"Why would you care?" Max retorted. Fang rolled his eyes. Glad that she was feeling better. He walked into her room.

"Not much to look at anyways." Fang said dryly. Max glared at him.

"What do you want? I'm tired, and I've had a long, relatively painful day. I'd like to end it please." Max said as she sat down on the bed.

"Me too." Fang said as he grabbed a pillow from the bed and tossed it on the floor.

"What do you think you're doing? You heard Ella's mom, off to the couch." Max said in a chastising tone. Fang ignored her and laid down on the floor.

"Since when do I cave in to authority?" Fang mumbled. Max shook her head. He was almost as stubborn as she was. There was no way that he was changing his mind.

"Chill, Max. I'll stay on the floor. And I'll try to not make fun of your snoring. I'll try." Fang said. Max groaned. She was tired. Too tired for his wisecracks. Fine. But he was staying on the floor.

"Don't blame me if you have back problems when you're older." Max said as she burrowed beneath the soft covers, the extra pillows easing the pain of her shoulder.

"If I live past tonight and your snoring." Fang replied.

Max let her eyes drift shut. Fang had to get up to turn off the lights and slumped back on the floor. He was asleep before five minutes had passed. Ten minutes after that, Ella's mom peeked into the door. Fang had seemingly disappeared and she'd had a bad feeling that she would find him in there. Besides, she had come to bring Max some more painkillers before bed. It looks like Max was already asleep

Ella's mom looked into the bed. Nope. Just Max. Where else could Fang be… then Ella's mom saw Fang asleep on the floor by Max's bed.

She would never approve of anything similar to that for Ella, but these weren't her kids, and they weren't normal kids. Not by a long shot. At least they weren't doing anything 'R' rated, or even 'PG-13' rated. Dr. Martinez shut the door, and went to tell Ella goodnight, and go to bed herself.

**Okay, maybe this wasn't two chapters, but I swear, it will only take three chapters. Three is one of my lucky numbers, anyways. Review! More fax in the next chapter! **


	3. Chapter 3

**It's been way too long, but the important thing is that the chapter is up and worth reading! Thank you for the previous reviews! **

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to James Patterson.**

**Part 3:**

Fang was the first to wake. His eyes darted around the room, analyzing it and where the best escape routes were. Then, he remembered where he was and why he was there.

He sat up, silently stretching his travel-worn muscles. Still on the floor, Fang turned his intense dark gaze at Max who was still sleeping on the bed.

Max had the blankets pulled up to her chin, and she was sleeping on her side. Her flat brown hair was all tangled and knotted.

A shadow of a smile crossed his lips as he looked at her quiet breathing form. Miraculously, she didn't snore once all night. Truthfully, Max may have been snoring, but Fang was in deep sleep all night, and wouldn't have heard it anyways.

The bright rays of morning light peeked into the room through cracks in the shades on the window.

Suddenly, a snippet of a scene in Fang's mind engulfed his attention. In the daydream, they were both in a room, this very room, in fact. Fang imagined waking up next to Max in the morning, with her curled up next to him and his arm around her. Fang saw himself softly kissing Max on the forehead.

Fang blinked rapidly as he returned back to the present scene.

He meditated on what he had thought, what he had _wished _for. It wasn't a random thought; Fang had wanted that to happen.

Immediately, Fang brushed the thoughts out of his mind. There was no sense in tormenting himself over something that could never be. I wouldn't happen, no matter how much he wanted otherwise.

The cold logic woke up his partially dreaming brain more than any amount of caffeine could. He slowly stretched out his arms, getting the blood flowing again. Sleeping on the floor wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement he'd had over the years, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

Waking up in agony, from physical wounds, starvation and dehydration in a crate so small that he couldn't even fully stretch out his legs or even sit up all the way, and hearing the terrified and pained howls and cries of other mutants like yourself certainly didn't make his top ten list of favorite abodes that he'd stayed at.

He inhaled deeply and smelled a wonderful smell that he hadn't smelt in a long while. Waffles, and not those frozen Eggo waffles either. This was the real made-from-scratch deal. Fang could barely remember the last time that Iggy had made waffles from scratch. There was another smell mingling with the homemade waffle smell; the sweet, savory smell of frying bacon.

Fang's stomach rumbled loudly. After the long and taxing day yesterday consisting of flying for hours on end, dragging Max through the woods, and kicking those boys' butts with no food in between, he was ravenous. He could literally eat enough food to put a diner out of business.

He heard Max shift in the bed, and automatically turned around to face her. That little snippet of him waking up next to Max and kissing her as she awoke flashed into his mind again. He forcefully shoved it out of his mind. What was wrong with him? He usually had more control than this.

"That's the loudest noise I've ever heard you make." Max said groggily as she sat up in the bed. Her pajama top, which had some strange cartoon character on it, was askew revealing the soft pale skin on her collar bone. Her hair was frizzy and going in all directions, like it had had been through a tornado.

Fang thought that she looked so beautiful, that he forgot how to breathe. He swallowed quite loudly, but Max was too drowsy to notice.

Yet another clip of vivid urging took over Fang's attention. He saw himself striding over to the sleepy Max and kissing her by force. She was a little hesitant at first, but he slowly eased himself onto the bed, on top of her. Her brown eyes drifted shut as she succumbed to his kisses.

Fang shook his head, his jagged black bangs swishing over his eyes. He said nothing, as per usual.

"Somebody's still a bit tired. Bet you would've slept better if you stayed on the couch like I told you to." Max said; smirking as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"What fun would that have been?" Fang replied coolly, regaining his wits and trying to forget the vivid scenes that had flashed before his eyes. Where had those come from? He was supposed to _protect_ Max, not ravage her. It was because he hadn't eaten. That was it. He couldn't really concentrate or think straight when he was this hungry. He focused on thinking clearer now, using the stab of hunger as a tool to stay awake, alert, and focused.

"Now I can use all that stuff that you muttered in your sleep against you. You said my name a lot." Fang replied stoically, his poker face impeccable. She had really said nothing of the sort, and he was too deep asleep to hear anything whispered in her sleep anyways.

Max glared at him, but in the dim morning light filtering in through the cracks in the blinds, Fang could see a crack in her glare. A crack of emotion that flickered in her eyes, if only for a moment, before being covered up again. Fear. Fang was unbearably curious now. What was she afraid of? Did she believe that he was serious? That he'd actually heard her calling his name in her sleep? His heart went a little off beat at the thought of her dreaming about him.

That's it. He needed food. Pronto.

Suddenly, the door opened; filling the dim room with the light from the rest of the house. Ella stood in the doorway, peeking around the doorframe.

"I think they're awake." Ella spoke softly, as if speaking to another person behind her. Instantly, the two bird-kids tensed. What if Ella was a traitor? She could be talking to a whitecoat with an assault rifle behind her or a police officer or even an Eraser disguised as someone. Maybe not even disguised at all.

Then, Ella's mom appeared behind her, filling up the doorway completely. There wasn't anyone else there. Both Max and Fang let out a breath of relief.

"Morning, Max. You too, Fang. You guys hungry? Do you like waffles?" Ella's mom said cheerfully. Both Max and Fang were great at detecting lies, and right now, they both silently agreed that Dr. Martinez was being sincere. She wasn't hiding anything.

"And bacon?" Ella chimed in, like she was genuinely happy to have strange house guests to share her breakfast with. "And fruit and stuff?"

Fang looked to Max, who nodded. She shot a private smirk at Fang. She knew that he was starving too.

Both Ella and her mother smiled. Ella held out something. Max walked over and took what was being offered to her. It was her jeans and underclothes and socks. They had been washed.

"So you can change." Ella added helpfully. "Fang, your stuff is in the bathroom where we cleaned up Max last night. You can change in there."

Dr. Martinez left for the kitchen, but Ella stayed behind and said one last thing to Fang before taking off.

"I swear I won't peek." Ella said, winking at him. Then, she ran off faster than Fang had ever seen a human run.

He was a bit stunned. Had that human girl actually _flirted _with him? And she knew that he was a mutant freak? Why would she ever think of someone who was a genetic screwball like him in… that sort of way?

Max, on the other hand, looked a bit gruff. She felt strangely… uncomfortable when Ella had flirted with Fang. It was because he was like a brother. That was it. It was weird to think that someone would like a brother, especially when that person flirting with 'her brother' knew that they were both not human. It certainly wasn't because Max felt anything other than close friendship verging on sibling-like feelings towards him. If that was the case, why was Max unsatisfied with that conclusion? She brushed the thoughts aside.

Fang felt worried about leaving Max to herself for even a few minutes while he changed. He supposed that Ella's mom had purposefully left his clothes in a separate room, away from Max. He'd already spent the night in the same room as her, but he assumed that she was trying to make them behave 'modestly' or some other motherly reason. Fang almost smirked. He would behave 'modestly' if forced to change in the same room with Max anyhow. She'd kick his butt if he tried anything.

Not like he would try anything with her. They were just friends. Those strange fantasies were byproducts of hunger and mental stress. Fang wasn't fully satisfied with that answer either, but he refused to take up any more thought on the matter and shoved all those strange ideas aside. He had more problems to worry about. Like the fact that he'd just left Gazzy and Iggy alone at the 'E' shaped house. They would be sitting ducks out there if they didn't find another place to hide, because now, the Erasers knew where they lived. Or the fact that Nudge was probably scared out of her wits. She'd had to sleep alone last night. She probably thought that he and Max were dead and that she'd have to rescue Angel all alone from the school now with nothing but the meager supplies in that backpack he'd left with her.

He changed in the backroom. There was a new black t-shirt, since the last one had holes all in it from Eraser claws. There were two long, perfectly spaced cuts in the back of the t-shirt where his wings would come out of. They must've observed his last shirt, and copied the long holes in the back. His jeans were newly washed and his socks were also. He slipped everything on and tried not to run back to Max's room. He hoped that nothing catastrophic had befallen her while he was gone, like things tended to happen around her whenever she was left alone.

He waited outside the door, listening intently for any signs of foul play. He heard the shifting of fabric and muttered cursing. It sounded like someone was trying to attack her or kidnap her or worse. Fang flung the door opened, muscles as tense as a person with his neck on the guillotine.

Max whirled around in an attempt to cover herself with her good arm. Her other arm was in a type of sling around her shoulder to keep her arm movements from jarring and further aggravating her injury. She'd managed to get her jeans on, but that was all. She had furiously been trying to hook her bra together with one arm but to no avail, hence the struggling and the cursing that he'd heard.

"Fang!" Max shrieked. "What is wrong with you? Why are you busting in all the time when I'm half naked? Ever heard of knocking you _idiot_! I'm going to kick your scrawny, sexist…"

"It sounded like you were getting strangled." Fang said emotionlessly, as he nonchalantly closed the door behind him. He focused on Max's eyes intently, his gaze not straying any lower, no matter how much his darker thoughts nagged him to.

"Well I'm not! I can take care of myself so get out _get out!_" Max growled vehemently, verging on shouting on the last two words.

"No you obviously _can't_ take care of yourself considering that you're so injured that you can't get dressed." Fang said, as snappish tone leaking into his apathetic speech. "Now let me help you and for the love of _God_, stop shrieking! That girl and her mom will think that I'm doing terribly naughty things."

Max didn't know what she was more stunned at, Fang talking so much all of a sudden or the fact that he'd been directly defying her so much. She was the leader, not him. He was supposed to do what she said. Was she losing her leadership qualities? The fact that her face heated up, red like the hot wires in a toaster at Fang's last sentence didn't help matters at all.

Fang walked over to her, keeping his eyes politely averted from her less than concealed upper half. He stood behind her and tried not to think about the skin on her back and how it looked so incredibly smooth. He took hold of the back of her bra and, from behind, helped her ease her injured arm through the strap.

"You _are_ doing incredibly naughty things to me." Max muttered, but not resisting. She would never admit this, even under torture, but she did need help. She didn't have to be verbally compliant to it though. It would inflate Fang's ego way too much. His head would be too big for him even to take off.

_No, but I want to. _said a voice in Fang's head in reply to Max's last comment. He almost stumbled backwards from the thought. He gritted his teeth as Max adjusted the front of the bra so that it fit on her properly.

"Don't flatter yourself however, that girl did seem interested in that idea. What was her name? Bella?" Fang retorted. He watched as Max's ears turned red, which only happened if she was extremely angry or embarrassed.

He'd noticed the change in her countenance after Ella's witty little flirty attempt on him. She'd gone from sarcastic to hostile in a matter of seconds.

"Will you hurry up? I'm freezing!" Max snapped at him, in an attempt to change the subject.

Fang quickly hooked the back of her undergarment together so that it was on completely now, being careful around her wings. He pretended not to notice the goosebumps that crept across wherever his fingers touched the shin on her bare back.

"You put it on wrong!" Max hissed, now very irritable. "The strap goes _under_ my wing joints, not above them!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Fang said in a slightly aggravated tone which meant that he was as aggravated as Max was. Bout of the bird-kids' aggregation was a failed attempt to hide their discomfort.

He took the sweatshirt from its spot on the unmade bed and held it above Max. Max braced herself as he slid it over her head. She pushed her good arm through its proper sleeve.

"I'm going to take your arm out of the sling for a second." Fang said shortly. He took a pocketknife, which had amazingly survived the wash, out of his jeans pocket and cut the gauze holding Max's arm in a temporary sling. Before Max could protest, Fang gently eased her arm through the armhole, but She'd twitched uncomfortably at his closeness and the sheer strangeness of their situation, and managed to worsen the pain in her shoulder. She winced and let out an involuntary yelp of pain. Fang bit his lip, loathing the sound of her in pain.

"Hey, easy." Fang murmured softly in her ear. Max stiffened, and that was all Fang needed to inch the rest of her arm through the sleeve. He quickly gathered the newly cut-through gauze that had previously held Max's arm in a sling and, with expert precision, re-set her arm in a sling. He carefully tied the knot holding the sling together on the top of her shoulder. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he soothingly kissed the top of Max's head.

She tried to ignore the fact that all of the pain in her body had suddenly melted away and all of her problems seemed to dissipate, if for a second.

Fang was so stunned with himself. He'd never lost control like that before. What really scared him was the fact that the action was so smooth, so natural, like he'd done it a thousand times and would do it a thousand more. Heck, he felt like he'd _wanted_ to do it a thousand more times. He was very scared that he'd officially lost his friendship with Max in that one little second. The one little second that brought him more bliss that he'd had for as long as he could remember.

Before he could possible do more to screw anything else up, he walked, soundlessly towards the door.

Max brushed past him a little more forcefully than necessary. She had, of course, forgotten temporarily about her injured shoulder. She inhaled sharply at the stabbing pain and stumbled a bit. Fang immediately, as if on reflex, grabbed on to her, to keep her from falling.

Max abruptly yanked out of his grasp. She walked, almost jogged, into the hallway, Fang staying a few steps behind her. Max was now clutching her injured shoulder. The pain came back to her, hitting her like another bullet wound. It not only ached, but it was a sharp pain too. It was even worse that the time that she'd dislocated her shoulder when she was sparring with Fang a long time ago back when Jeb was still with them. Max remembered staggering around, being as tough as she could and refusing to cry. She remembered the look on Fang's face. She saw the flicker of emotion before it had left his face for good, but still, she'd seen it. He had been stricken and guilty and a bit fearful. Max knew that he should be afraid. She was going to kick his butt when this terrible pain went away.

Little did Max know, but Fang was secretly afraid that he'd permanently injured. He felt really guilty about hurting her so bad. He knew that it was bad if Max was close to tears. She had always been the strong one. And he'd do the thing that he swore that he'd never really do, he'd hurt her. It was bad, too. He was supposed to make sure that she didn't get hurt, not be the one that hurt her.

Max then remembered Jeb. He was there, next to her, talking to her. Talking about how to better improve her skills so she would be able to avoid a blow to the shoulder like that again. About how one day, not even Fang would be able to touch her in battle. Then, at the last second that she expected, Jeb slid her shoulder back into place. In a moment, all the pain was gone.

Max wished that the pain would go away now. Now, however, she had an aching pain in her heart at the fond memory of Jeb. He was the closest thing that she'd had to a dad and now he was gone forever.

But there was something that could make the pain go away. When Fang had kissed her, even if it was on the top of the head, it had made the pain go away.

Max repeated those words over in over again in her head, like a mantra. _Fang kissed me. Fang kissed me. Fang kissed me. _

He had to have been kissing her like a brother. Brothers and sisters shared tiny bits of affection like that. It had to what she's been feeling, what he'd been feeling. Brotherly love.

Max, almost bitterly, thought that Fang had a new interest now in Ella, anyways.

As soon as Max entered the kitchen, she was almost floored by the scent of food, but it was a good thing. The smell of bacon and sausage and waffles and eggs overpowered her, and she wanted to melt. It was a normal sight. There was a perfectly normal teenage girl setting the table, there was a perfectly normal mother, cooking a breakfast feast. She was wearing normal clothes, aside from the giant slits in the back. It was like they were an actual real, normal family gathering together for a normal meal.

"Oh, Max, I totally forgot about your sling!" Ella's mom said loudly over the noisy sound of bacon and sausage frying at the same time. "It seems like you've managed to do it yourself though!" she said this with admiration in her voice, and a bit of surprise.

Max was relieved that Ella or her mom didn't even know about the fiasco with her getting dressed. Max sensed Fang behind her and remembered the unbearably good feeling that had washed over her when his fingers had brushed the bare skin on her back, the way that his fingers gently grazed the soft downy feathers near her wing joint. The feeling overwhelmed her, and frankly, it scared her to be so out-of-control with her emotions. She shook her head, as if to erase the memory from her mind like an Etch-A-Sketch.

"You guys can sit down. The table's ready." Ella said merrily. She grabbed a plate piled high with bacon and placed it on the table. Here was already fruit, oatmeal, waffles with whipped cream and chocolate chips, syrup, powdered sugar, and even cereal on the table. It looked like a banquet. Ella's mom turned off the stove and brought the eggs and sausage to the table.

"We didn't know what you liked," she confessed. "so we made a bit of everything."

"Don't worry about it. It all looks great!" Max enthused. Fang couldn't help but nod in agreement. The two bird kids eyed the plates of food like they were piles of gold stacked before them.

"Don't just stand there! It's not poisoned. See?" Ella said as she took a big bite of waffle. Max and Fang's willpowers crumbled. They sat at the table at the last two seats available. Naturally, they sat across from each other.

They tried not to inhale the food, but it was the best that they'd eaten in a really long time. Max tried to use her fork and knife to cut and eat her food like a normal person, although she was sorely tempted to just use her hands and stuff as much food as she could into her mouth. Strange enough, Max felt normal here. Besides the fact that Fang was sitting across from her, carefully avoiding eye contact with her, she could have believed that she was human; all human.

Even the conversation was somewhat normal. Well, much more normal than it was when Max was with the Flock. Gazzy would be talking about his latest pyromaniac-driven creation, Iggy would be bragging about the amazing food that he'd just whipped up, Nudge would be babbling about the newest fashion magazine that she'd lifted from the nearest convenience store, and how modern fashions could be practical during flight or some similar crap. Angel would be reading everyone's minds and generally commenting on what she found to be interesting. Max, of course, would be making sure that the bacon was distributed evenly so that a brawl wouldn't ensue. Of course, Fag wouldn't say anything at all.

The mere thought of an average breakfast with her Flock made Max feel ten pounds heavier with sorrow. She shoveled another quarter of waffle into her mouth.

To hide the fact that she was in agony over the loss of Angel all over again, and wanted nothing more than to curl up on the ground and cry for her little baby to be brought home again. She felt a strange yarning for Fang to hold her close and to whisper that everything was going to be alright into her ear, then kiss her. This time, on the mouth. She almost dropped her fork at the thought.

To cover up for her seemingly strange behavior, Max blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Wow, these waffles are amazing! I think that they are even better than Ig-" Fang had cut her off with a sharp glare; the first time that he'd looked at her the whole meal. Max glared even more pointedly back at him, but she was more angry at herself than him. First she'd revealed her real name to these complete strange humans, and now she'd almost revealed another one of them to those same humans! Was she subconsciously hell-bent on their early, untimely deaths?

Ella's mom looked a little troubled at the sudden halt in the middle of that last sentence, but eventually smiled.

"Thank you. I'm glad that you like them." Ella's mom said warmly. She'd noticed the large amount of food that Fang and Max had eaten, but only looked mildly curious, not in the least bit annoyed or fearful. Another thing that Max and Fang assumed wrongly about her.

Max didn't want to bring up the fact that she and Fang were mutant freaks and needed an obscene amount of calories just to stay alive, that's why they had to eat so much. This breakfast was so strangely… normal. And she didn't want to ruin it.

Max and Fang made an unspoken agreement not to eat all of the food that they knew they could. They would only eat what they absolutely needed to eat in order to function. They wouldn't give themselves the luxury of eating until they were blissfully and completely full. The two of them combined would probably eat Ella and her mom to bankruptcy.

They finished what was on their plates, piled their plates with seconds, and then all but licked the plate cleaned. They both could easily go for third, fourth, even fifth massive servings.

Ella's mom seemed to read their minds.

"Please, eat all you want. I'm just going to throw the extras away. I need to go shopping later this afternoon anyways." Ella's mom said. Max smiled, almost guiltily.

In a matter of minutes, all the food that was stacked on the table was gone.

Ella had almost been late for school, but she pecked her mother quickly on the cheek and sprinted out the door to catch the bus.

Now all that was left to do was to clean up the expanse of dirty dishes. Fang took it upon himself to collect the dishes and bring them to the sink, where Ella's mom would rinse them, then hand them to Max, who loaded them into the dishwasher.

It was quiet except for the clinking of dishes and silverware and the rushing of water into the sink.

Ella's mom decided to fill the silence.

"So Max," she started as she meaningfully handed Max a serving plate. Max automatically tensed. Fang's muscles went taut; as if expecting to fight or bolt at any given moment. His wings shifted on his back restlessly.

Max felt like she could trust Ella's mom, she was so kind and understanding. She wanted to tell her everything, but Max feared that she would curl up into a ball and cry for hours if she started talking about Angel or the rest of the Flock. And she certainly couldn't talk about her recent confusing feelings with Fang with him standing a mere few feet behind her. However, if he wasn't standing behind her, if he wasn't in the house. Max would have probably spilled her guts about her new feelings for Fang., or at least, what she thought she felt about Fang. Ella's mom was just so… mom-like. And Max had never had a mom before. She'd always been the mom. Who was the mom supposed to tell all these girl things with when she didn't have a mom herself?

"Not really." came Max's short, almost disappointed reply. She knew that she was running out of time anyways, to save Angel. Angel was in the School _suffering _while she was standing here _washing dishes_.

Max realized that she would never have a mom. She would never have someone to spill her guts to about feelings and all that other mushy, confusing girly stuff. That was because she was the leader, she was the alpha, it was her job to take care of everyone else. It was just the way things were. She needed to get a grip on reality!

It was quiet for another minute. Fang walked up, delivered more dishes, and then went back to the table to collect more.

"Do you have a last name?" Ella's mom asked quietly, so Fang wouldn't hear. Somehow, she sensed that Fang's presence was keeping Max quiet. Well, it was Fang's job to be the voice of reason, even if it was usually a buzzkill. It didn't matter anyways, Fang could still hear her.

"Yeah," Max replied, shrugging her good shoulder slightly. "I gave it to myself."

Max glanced over at Fang for a second. For a brief moment he seemed almost… lost. He'd never bothered with a last name. He said he didn't need one, since he wasn't human, and only humans had last names. Maybe he wished that he knew what his last name was sometimes. They all did. They just never talked about it. They were test-tube babies. They didn't have last names. It was yet another thing that made them aberrations.

"My last name is Ride." Max said finally. The more that she talked to this woman, the lighter she felt. It was like the weight on her chest that had been there ever since Angel had been taken was slowly disappearing, a little bit at a time with every secret that she spilled. She needed someone to spill to. It seemed so natural, how bad could it really be?

"Like Sally Ride, the astronaut. Maximum Ride." Max finished. Fang has paused collecting dishes and was full out staring at her now. He didn't know what had gotten into her. She was all of a sudden, telling this strange woman who they knew little to nothing about, everything. Her identity, what next, was she going to tell them about the Flock, the Erasers, the whitecoats, and the School?

Ella's mom didn't seem to notice that anything was askew. She nodded good naturedly.

"That's a good name. Are there others like you?" she asked. The question sounded so simple from her lips. Max's heart felt like it would burst now. She wanted a mother, more passionately than she'd ever wanted one before. Fang's eyes searing into the back of her had were making her jumpy and uncomfortable and she was just so confused and upset and scared. Max realized that she was holding a dish, and not loading it into the dishwasher like she was supposed to.

Max was always the mother; she'd been a mother for as long as she could remember. Well, in the position of one, not a physical one. For once, she wanted to be able to talk to someone who would judge and who would keep her secrets. Was that too much to ask?

Nudge and Angel confided their secrets in to Max, and Max never told anyone else. Angel. Her baby. He poor, sweet baby. She was gone. She was gone. Maybe dead. Probably dead. It was all her fault all her fault for not being ready, for failing to protect her.

Max's hands shook. She dropped the plate. The plate wasn't the only thing to fall. Tears dripped down Max's face, which made Fang and Ella's mom nearly shell-shocked. Max hadn't shed a tear when faced with a bullet wound and Fang hadn't seen her cry even when her bones were broken. She was now crying in front of him and a near-stranger. Max fell to her knees and was full out crying now. She was so embarrassed, and deep down, she was furious with herself. All of these confusing emotions about her with Fang, about the School, Ari, Nudge being Alone, Gazzy and Iggy alone, Angel, and now Ella and her mom. It was just all too much for Max at the moment. She was so vulnerable in front of this very kind woman.

Fang was over by her side almost instantly. Dr. Martinez, who was startled by the sound of the breaking plate, was already kneeling by Max.

"Shhh, Max. It's fine. It's okay, sweetheart. Don't cry." Fang said soothingly in her ear. Max could barely comprehend what she was hearing. She barely noticed the fact that Fang was gently stroking her between the wings in a way that felt so intoxicatingly good. She almost didn't notice the strangely sweet words coming from his mouth. They weren't sarcastic, condescending, or scolding like she expected to hear from him right now. He was being soft with her; something that she'd never expected him to be with her.

"They took my baby!" Max cried into his shoulder. Ella's mom looked surprised for the first time. She saw that Max and Fang, as tall and mature as they were, they could only be fourteen or fifteen, sixteen at tops. They couldn't possibly have a baby! Could they? Fang had said that she wasn't even his girlfriend, though she could obviously tell that she meant much more to him than a friend or even a sibling. Could he have lied to her? He didn't seem to trust her like Max did, but why would he lie about something like their relationship?

"We'll get her back. I promise. I swear Max, if they plan on hurting her, they'll have to kill me first before they do." Fang said seriously. Ella's mom was even more taken aback. He didn't deny it. They really had a little baby girl? And someone took her? No wonder they were so skittish around humans. They were probably going to save her when Max stopped to save Ella and got shot in the process. It also explained on why Fang was so protective of Max. He was part bird, obviously. Some kind of bird-of-prey, by the type of feathers on their backs. It was only natural that male birds protected their… mates. Even if their 'mate' was as strong willed as Max.

"I don't want you do die." Max chocked out. "I can't lose you too. Especially you."

"We'll get her back Max. We will. I won't leave you either, I promise." He murmured, so low that even Ella's mom couldn't hear. With that, he kissed her forehead. "I won't leave, you Max. I love you." His heart stopped cold in his chest. The words slipped out before he'd had a chance to censor them. He was mortified, and stopped breathing. Max would never talk to him again. He was supposed to be her best friend, her second-in-command, her vice president, her first mate, her beta. He'd just totally blown that by pulling a Nudge and blurting the wrong thing out at the wrong time.

He quickly looked away from her and let her go. He stood up and prepared to flee the scene.

"Wait." Max said in an undertone. She sounded almost desperate, nothing like the strong, tough, leader Max that he knew. This Max was emotional and fragile and couldn't handle being alone. He was a little alarmed to see her this way. He'd _never_ seen her this way.

Max stood up and walked over to him. Without warning, she kissed him back, the way that he'd been daydreaming about. And it felt a hundred times better than he'd ever imagined. With the kiss, Max felt stronger, better, and like herself again. She could face all of her emotions and shove them into the back of her mind where they belonged because she was Maximum Ride. It's what she did.

She was then put into a critical stage of shock when she realized what she was doing. She'd kissed her best friend. He'd said that he loved her. In front of a stranger. It was so un-Fang-like, which she thought that she'd dreamed this whole mess up and would wake up in bed, back at the 'E' shaped house. But this felt too good to be a dream.

Max then turned around and resumed putting dishes in the dishwasher.

"Do you have a dustpan? There's glass on the floor." Max said helpfully as she loaded more dishes into the dishwasher. It's impossible to tell who was more confused and stunned, Ella's mom or Fang.

-XOXO-

Ella's mom was a little afraid to ask questions after Max's meltdown in the kitchen, but Max seemed stronger than ever, and her personality and free will seemed more vibrant that usual.

Fang too seemed like he'd drank a triple espresso shot of coffee. He was on high alert and higher attuned to everything happening around him…Well, like a hawk.

Ella's mom didn't speak, so it was quiet; save for the sounds of dishes and silverware being loaded into the dishwasher. They quickly and efficiently cleaned up the kitchen until it looked better than it was before.

After the dishwasher had been set ad was washing the multitude of dishes, Max and Fang shot a secretive glance at each other.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Max spoke.

"So, thank you so much for everything. Really." Max said earnestly. "But we really have to go."

Fang shot Max a dirty look. He knew that she couldn't fly with her wing in that condition. AS much as he hated to stay in a strange human's house, this one didn't seem hostile and had actually helped them. They didn't really have a choice but to stay. But of course, Max would be Max and insist on leaving, even if the decision was irrational.

Fang did want to save Angel, with all of his being, but he would need Max to help break her out, and he wouldn't leave her anyways. He'd promised. They couldn't leave now, because Max was no good in the rescue if she was dead.

Fang had thought about all of the terrible things that could, and probably would happen to Angel if they didn't rescue her soon.

He'd also replayed the scene with Max in the kitchen a thousand times in his head. It was probably the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him, besides the time when Iggy had gotten angry with him and had broken into the bathroom while he was in the shower, and then Iggy had stolen all of his clothes and the towels, so he'd had to attempt to cover himself with a still sopping wet washcloth and his wings as he snuck back into his room to get real clothes so he could sufficiently kill Iggy. He remembered at the time, he'd prayed to every deity and spirit he could think of that none of the other Flock members were nearby, making it even more humiliating. Of course, Max just _had_ to walk out of her room at the time. That's why it was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him until that moment it the kitchen.

He'd told Max that he loved her, something that he'd even denied in his head. But once he'd said it, he knew that it was true. What surprised him even more than Max's fit of tears, was the fact that she'd loved him too.

The embarrassing part was the fact that they'd kissed in front of a complete stranger… well, she wasn't a total stranger, considering that she'd patched Max back up and knew what they were. Heck, she didn't even freak out. That same human had seen his carefully placed emotionless façade fall to pieces at the sight of Max in tears; she'd seen him at his weakest, and she'd what even the rest of the Flock hadn't seen, his true feelings for Max. That is why he was mortified. He'd always been so adamant about keeping their secrets safe, and unheard by human ears. Now he'd practically screamed out the secret he'd kept closest; his love for Max. By the time they left, Ella's mother would be an expert in Avian-humans, and enough Flock gossip to make even Nudge jealous.

Ella's mom suddenly looked distressed at Max's news.

"Max, are you sure I can't help in some way?" she said in a worried, almost motherly tone. The tone had never been used on Max, and it was really an odd experience to hear it for the first time.

"You've helped a lot already, really. But we… We've got some friends waiting for us. It's really important." Max emphasized. Fang wanted to roll his eyes. He and Max both knew that no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't fly on that wing. She wouldn't be able to fly at all for at least a few days.

He wanted to save Angel just as badly as she did, but Max was no good to her if she was falling from the sky in a fiery nosedive just because she wouldn't wait an extra day to heal just enough to fly.

"How will you get to them? Can I give you a ride?"

"No," Max said, her mouth tilting downwards in a downhearted frown. She rubbed her sore shoulder. "I need to, um, fly there. But I don't think I can fly yet."

Fang almost sighed. At least he wouldn't have to argue with her about staying here for a while longer. One less battle.

Ella's mom's forehead crinkled in thought.

"It would be dangerous for you to strain your injury before it's healed. I couldn't tell the extent of it. But I could give you a better idea if we had an x-ray." Ella's mom said finally.

Fang's blood went cold. Oh, no. This is where he drew the line. This lady could be working with the School, who was supposed to slowly gain their trust, then take them to a horrible hospital where the whitecoats and Erasers would be waiting for them. There could be Erasers surrounding the house now, waiting to see if he and Max would go to get this 'x-ray' voluntarily. If they said no, they would attack. Fang looked at Max from behind, hoping that she would come to this conclusion as well. She was smart, she was the leader! She would totally know that this reeked of a trap.

He waited for Max's signal. She would decline, then they would get the heck out of there. He would freaking carry her if he had to. He could; if it would save her, he'd carry her to the moon and back.

Max looked at Ella's mom soberly. "Do you have x-ray vision?" Max replied in complete seriousness.

Fang took this as a good sign. In true Maximum Ride style, she would throw in a few wisecracks before the clever fight/getaway.

Ella's mom laughed, genuinely, and Max's laugh followed. Fang tried to ignore the fact that Max's laugh made him want to kiss her again, and to the fact that Max would be waiting for the perfect opportunity to high-tail it out of there.

What Fang didn't know, is that Max had completely forgotten that he was there. In fact, she wasn't suspicious of Ella's mom at all. She was slightly jealous of Ella, who had such a cool mom like that all the time. Right now, she almost felt like she had a mom. Maybe this is what her life would have been like if she'd been born the normal way instead of in a test tube.

"No, not all of us have superhuman powers," Ella's mom said, still chuckling. "But some of us have access to x-ray machines. "

Fang watched in amazement as Max calmly listened to Ella's mom, as she explained that she and another vet shared a vet practice, and today just happened to be her day off. However, no one else would question their presence there.

Max couldn't actually _believe_ this. It was way too convenient, not to mention ironic.

But Max followed, almost earnestly, like a little kid on 'bring your child to work' day. Fang couldn't believe this. Max couldn't honestly not see _anything_ wrong with this picture.

But Max grabbed her combat boots by the door and slid them on, along with an un-slitted windbreaker to 'hide her wings'. Fang saw that it was to keep her unable to fly, at least for a few seconds. A few seconds was all that an Eraser needed to rip her throat out.

The image was sickening. He wouldn't let that happen to her.

Ella's mom offered him an un-cut windbreaker as well, but he declined. Instead, he put on his beat up old leather jacket that was hanging on the hook by the door.

"I'd rather be prepared." Fang said coolly.

Max finally looked at him, like she'd just remembered that he was there.

"What's wrong with you? She's trying to help me." Max hissed between her teeth while Ella's mom locked the door to the house behind them.

"What's wrong with you? Are you _crazy_? She's taking us to a _veterinary_ office! That place is probably crawling with whitecoats and Erasers! We'll be dead before we get out of her car!" Fang hissed back.

Fang looked at Max disbelievingly; she was looking at him like he was the one who wasn't thinking rationally.

"Fang, it's fine. I'm the leader, remember? I know what I'm doing." Max said with more confidence than she felt. Fang's cold logic had totally deflated her daydream. Max hated to remember that he world wasn't made of homemade breakfasts and charming mealtime conversations. It was more probable that his lady was taking her to her death rather than doing an act of kindness.

Defiantly, Max got into Ella's mom's van, and a darkly angry Fang got in behind her.

Ella's mom hummed pleasantly as she drove down the driveway.

"Hey, we, uh… we never got your name." Max said from the shotgun seat. Fang sat rigidly in the backseat.

"Oh, I'm Valencia Martinez, but Ms. Martinez is fine. Or Dr. Martinez, if you want. It doesn't really matter." Dr. Martinez said easily.

The rest of the car ride was quiet, save for the radio quietly playing lite rock in the background. In a matter of minutes, they arrived in the parking lot of the vet's office. Fang was very tense as he watched the amount of people in the building's parking lot alone. So far, none of them seemed Erasery. Max seemed a little nervous herself.

Dr. Martinez didn't seem fazed in the slightest. She patiently waited for them to exit the car before locking it. She then strode into the office. This was her territory; here, she was the leader.

Max and Fang followed her, a few steps behind.

The memories of the School flooded them. Max silently wished that maybe she should have listened to Fang. The smell of antistatic and bleach flooded their nostrils and made their stomachs turn. They heard the crying, whimpering, and yelping of animals, most of them unhappy. Images f mutilated, dead, or dying mutant animals bombarded their sight.

Max wanted to grab hold of Fang's hand, for some reassurance in this place. But if she did, it would only make what happened in the kitchen real. It would solidify the fact that she really loved him, that he really loved her. Those feelings seemed more daunting then the fact that they were in a place that seemed to be so much like the School.

"Hi guys," Dr. Martinez said to the clerks at the front desks. They were wearing friendly scrubs with smiling animals on them. The effect was almost cheerful. "These are friends of Ella's they're partners doing a report on the veterinary career, so I am giving them a tour."

The clerks at the reception desk waved and smiled, wished them luck, then went back to business. They didn't notice the fact that all the color had been drained from the two kids' faces. There was a man in the hall ahead of them. A man in a white coat. A long white lab coat.

Without warning, Max grabbed Fang's hand. He was just as scared as she was, although he'd die before he'd admitted it aloud. She gripped onto his hand, which now had an almost corpselike complexion. He gently squeezed back.

"They seem to be more than project partners." The guy in the white coat said teasingly, he then winked. Max's hand quivered. Fang desperately wanted to grab her into his arms and take her out of there. Flying away with her in his arms almost seemed like a whimsical notion, like the scene out of a movie, but he wouldn't mind it, honestly.

Dr. Martinez looked back at the two petrified bird kids, both standing there frozen. If you looked at their faces alone, it would reveal nothing, but if you looked into their eyes, it revealed pure, raw terror. Well, Fang's eyes didn't reveal much, but the loss of color in his skin sure did.

"Max?" Dr. Martinez said, her confusion evident. Max stared at her mutely. Fang stared at the guy in the white coat, waiting for him do make a move. His free hand clasped into a hard fist.

Dr. Martinez took Max's arm and gently pulled both Max and Fang into the examination room. She cheerfully explained what the room was used for, then abruptly closed the door. Her expression turned serious.

"What's wrong? What's the matter you two?" she asked. Fang eyed the door, waiting for bloodthirsty wolf-monsters to break the door down.

Max took a few deep breaths, and Fang sympathetically squeezed her hand amongst his silent panic.

"It's the smell," Max murmured. She looked at the white tile floor, seeing scratches on its shiny surface. Her face turned a pale pink in embarrassment. "The chemical smell, like a lab. The guy in a white coat. I have to get out of here, okay? Can we just go now, like really fast?"

Dr. Martinez gently rubbed Max's back soothingly. Fang instantly let go of Max's hand. He finally saw that Max saw a mother-like figure in this human. She'd seen the risks, but didn't want to believe that they could be true, because for once, she wanted to be normal, with a normal mother. He felt like he was invading in on the moment.

"I promise that you're safe here. Can you just stay long enough for me to get a quick x-ray, and then we can leave right away?"

Max swallowed nervously. Fang could hear her heart rate pounding much faster from usual at his post by the door.

"Please, Max."

Max forced herself to nod. Dr. Martinez quickly made sure that Max wasn't wearing any jewelry. Max would have laughed at the notion of such a ridiculous thing if she wasn't so darn terrified. She looked at Fang, her brown eyes scared.

It hurt Fang more than anything to see her like that, sprawled out of a table and so, so scared in a place like this. He felt so useless.

"It's not going to hurt her?" he said suddenly, startling everyone in the room. They were the first words spoken by him since they'd arrived at the clinic. Max's heart thudded. She hoped that it wouldn't hurt her too badly.

"No, it won't hurt her at all. Why would you think that?" Dr. Martinez asked, genuinely surprised at the question.

Fang's dry, humorless laugh sent chills down both of the girls' spines.

"I've been hooked up to a lot of machines. I can't remember one of them not hurting." Fang deadpanned.

Dr. Martinez sent another unreadable glance between Max and Fang. A small buzz echoed through the room, and Max instinctively flinched.

Max looked around, surprised. She shot Fang a sudden, relieved smile. He loved to see her smile like that, so he sent her an extremely rare, half, smile back. Her eyes brightened at the sight of his trademark partial smile.

Dr. Martinez took a large photo and put it up on a light box moments later, revealing Max's bones. The bird-kids stared at it, almost in awe. They'd hear a lot about how their bones were unique, but they'd never actually seen them.

"Look," Dr. Martinez said as she traced the curve of Max's shoulder blade with her finger. "The bone is fine. It's all muscle damage-you can see the torn tissue damage here and here." She said as she gestured to the indicated places.

Max and Fang nodded, unintentionally, in synch.

"And your wing bones," she continued, now automatically hushing her voice. "All seem fine. Which is good. Unfortunately, muscle damage usually takes longer to heal than bones do. Though your rate of regeneration is weirdly fast, I must say…" she trailed off and stared at the luminescent x-ray image, as if entranced by its strangeness.

"Your bones are so fine and light. They're beautiful." She murmured, as if taking to herself. "They're beautiful."

Everything about her is beautiful. Fang mentally insisted, before he could stop himself.

"Huh. What is this thing?" Dr. Martinez said. Both bird kids tensed. She pointed to a bright white square in the exact center of Max's right forearm on the x-ray.

Fang hoped that it wasn't a tumor. Or cancer. He knew that mutants always died fast. They were the longest ones to live ever. Fourteen years was an eternity for a mutant, but is seemed so short when he was thinking about losing Max. He couldn't lose her. Not when he'd just told her that he loved her. Was this the universe being morbidly ironic again? It seemed to think that Fang's entire life was one big, sad ironic joke. He doesn't get to love Max more like a girlfriend for one day before she gets a death sentence that even he can't fight against.

"That's not jewelry, is it? It's not the zipper of your jacket?" Dr. Martinez persisted. Fang tried to swallow, but couldn't Max didn't wear jewelry. Ever. And she'd taken her jacket off before she took the x-ray.

"No-I took it off." Max replied tersely.

Dr. Martinez looked at the image closely, squinting her eyes in concentration.

"It's a- It looks like a…" she trailed off in a confused sort of way. Max gripped Fang's hand again. He gripped her hand tightly in return.

"What?" Max asked quickly. The expression on Dr. Martinez's face unnerved her more than the actual picture did.

"It's a microchip," she said, glancing at Max as if to gauge her reaction. "We put something similar into animals. To identify them in case they're lost. Yours looks like a, looks like the ones that we use on really expensive pets, show dogs and such. They have a tracer in them in case they're stolen. They can be tracked, wherever they are."

**Okay, I'm going crazy with the descriptions here, because I'm not really close to being done. One more chapter. That's all it'll take. I swear. Review please! I'm sorry for not updating it sooner, but I'm kind of working on another story. It usually has the higher priority, but I felt like updating this one. **


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